Leading from the front issuu

mona. The bulk of the work involved visiting children in
their foster homes and recruiting and supporting foster
parents. There was very little engagement with the natural
parents apart from holiday arrangements if and when
deemed appropriate.
Nearly all children were removed from their families
and placed with state approved foster parents, or in one
of the many institutions (homes) run by the state. There
was no legal requirement to seek out family placements
or maintain children’s links with their families.
Handling adoptions was a significant part of my caseload,
I also oversaw the young who were placed on Supervision
Orders as a result of their offending.
There were very few of what we would now call reports
of concern to follow up on. Much of what we call
care and protection was managed by liaising on a daily
basis with others who had regular contact with children
and families. These were people such as teachers, Plunket
& Public Health nurses, local constables and Department
of Māori Affairs workers.
Of course it has to be acknowledged that the use
of physical discipline was common in the home and
at school and only the worst cases would meet the
threshhold for statutory intervention. Sexual abuse was
unheard of although it no doubt happened and went
unreported. There was a legal obligation on parents to
provide care for their children and also have them under
control. Often it was the failure of the latter that led to
children coming into care.
Children came into care through an order of the Children’s
Court and that order stayed in place until they
reached the age of 21. Children could be discharged
from care before that age at the discretion of the Director
General of Social Welfare (in practice a social worker).
Although I can’t provide any hard data, my recollection
is that the vast majority of the children in care were
Pakeha placed with Pakeha foster parents. Māori children
who were in care were also placed with Pakeha
care givers or in state run institutions. The only interaction
with Māori was through the Department of Māori
Artwork by Juanita Apu, Camberley School.
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